FOR A REAL SOLUTION TO MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, TAKE OUT THE RELIGION FACTOR

By Jamshid Chalangi*

CAIRO 20 Oct. (IPS) When, three weeks before what happened on 11 September in New York and in Washington D. C., Mr. Amr Musa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, was warning that as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a "horrible scenario" was unfolding in the Middle East, he would certainly not have imagined that the huge towers of the World Trade Center in New York would collapse under the impact of the crushing of two jet liners hijacked and piloted by some Arab nationals, including from Egypt.

Before Mr. Musa, the Egyptian President Hosni Mobarak had time and again warned the United States and Europe about the danger of terrorism in this region, stemming from the same confrontation.

Now, and as the struggle against terrorism has become a necessity for the world and all eyes are so fixed on Osama Ben Laden and his Taleban protectors in Afghanistan, one has the impression that the efforts that are underway world wide, in the United States, in Europe and even in the Middle East tend to show that the terrorist operations in the United States have nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian question.

May be it is for this reason that few leaders and officials, in America or elsewhere, address the basic question aimed at knowing why the terrorists, regardless of their nationalities, did such an act and what was their purpose?

Opinions expressed in the Middle East press in the first hours and days after the terrorist operations in New York and in Washington, stating that the United States ought to change its policy in the region, particularly in regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, was an open indication of direct links existing between the Middle East crisis as the central motive behind the 11 September operations and the perpetrators of the operations.

Willingly or unwillingly, these opinions, meaning inviting the United States to revise its Middle East policy, not only were one way for legitimising the attacks on America, but also inviting, directly or indirectly, the United States to bow to the terrorists, or if not, it must await for further similar devastating operations.

Though the United States had never before yield to terrorists, but, due to various reasons and interests (political as well as economic), did nothing more than carrying some police and administrative investigations aimed at finding the terrorists finger and feet prints when its garrisons were blown up in Lebanon (early on 1980); the building of its military personnel in al Khobar, in Saudi Arabia (1996); Explosions of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (1998); explosion of the USS Cole in Aden (2000).

Furthermore, even if this bargaining, like those between the FBI and CIA’s agents with officials in San’a concerning the attack on the USS Cole, would lead to anything, it would not have been more than what emerged after ten years of investigations about the explosion of the TWA plane over Lockerbie.

Though leaders and the media in some Arab countries have abstained these days of repeat their advises to Washington for changing policies, but this does not mean that there are no links between the Middle East conflict with the 11 September operations.

It was the importance of this question that prompted Mr. Colin Powel, the US State Secretary to press Mr. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister and Mr. Yaser Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, to renew their stalemated negotiations.

Another question that has remained unanswered is this one: Why in the five decades that the Arab Israeli, or, more exactly, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted, not once, even on the hottest of days, did it produced any thing like the 11 September catastrophe?

The reason, in the opinion of some Arab analysts, is rather simple: The addition of the element of religion to the Middle East problem, or the changing of the Middle East confrontations from the "land" and "national" aspect to that of "religion" has further complicated the problem, adding unprecedented sensibilities to the region’s equation.

For instance, the event of the Al Aqsa Mosque has changed the Arab-Israeli problem from the "occupation of Arab lands" into one of "insult" to this Muslim’s sacred place, and a correct or incorrect interpretation of the word "insult" could prompt some people to revert to operations that some would consider it as holy jihad and others as terrorism.

Existence of fanatism, the inexistence of democracy, widespread poverty, underdevelopment, lack of proper education in many Muslim societies provide the hotbed not for a Ben laden, but anyone sharing same ideologies and possessing same possibilities to mobilise a flood of suicide soldiers willing to enter Paradise by exploding sky scrappers like the WTC, or the Pentagon or any other places.

In the back streets of Middle Eastern cities, many consider as "heroes" or "immortal martyrs" the men who crushed the planes into the WTC towers and into the Pentagon. Of course, this sad reality is not good welcome for civilisation, but in no case and under any condition it should be discarded on the altar of any interest, being political, national or economical, while combating terrorism.

In finding any practical solution to the Middle East problem, one has, before anything else, to obliterate the element of religion, being Islam, Christianism or Judaism, from the equation. ENDS 51001 US EXPLOSIONS OVERVIEW

* Mr. Chalangi is the Middle East Correspondent for the Persian service of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, based in Cairo.